A medieval contribution to the history of legal medicine : the first European Necroscopic Registry

The research concerns the analysis and revision of the Mortuorum Liber of Milan, the first European Necroscopic Registry (1452-1695), in the frame of a comparative study on human remains (ranging from 1473 to 1695) discovered in the great mortuary chamber of the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan, founded in 1456 by the Duke Francesco Sforza. An exceptional feature of this registry, making it very close to similar, modern documents, consists in the decision of the public authorities to join to the record of all deaths (both natural and suspicious) a detailed medical report. This registry, presently preserved at the Archivio di Stato of Milan, delineates the will of the dukes to track population mortality and morbidity and suspicious or violent deaths in one of the most important European cities of that time. It illustrates moreover the historical origin of modern necroscopic practice and the social and medical advances of a historical period undeservedly classed as “dark” (for more information see: www.antropostoria.unimi.it)